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Hi all. I have been on 20mg of Lexapro since 2021 for extreme physical anxiety symptoms. I could not sleep. The Lexapro helped me significantly and I experienced no effects except when upping my dose. However, everything changed March 2024. I have been suffering stomach bloating and other related issues since the falls, so I decided to try a probiotic. After a few days, the probiotic seemed to be helping, but then I suddenly had an adverse reaction to Lexapro and am unsure if it is related or not. Because of this I got worried and only began taking 15mg for the next two weeks but experienced the same symptoms: increased heart rate, headache, nausea, muscle spasms, leg twitching, emotional bluntness, inability to be sexually aroused, chills, etc. My doctor wanted me to cross-taper to Zoloft, starting at 25mg while dropping down to 10mg on the Lexapro. I took them together for two nights in a row and had horrible symptoms, like those listed above but my hands and legs were shaking badly and my teeth were chattering. This obviously concerned me so I stopped taking the Zoloft completely and was only on 10mg of Lexapro for a few days until one day I felt horribly numb, like I got crippling depression overnight. I felt so unhappy and suicidal, I decided to try the Zoloft again to stabilize me. So, for three days I took 25mg of Zoloft in the morning and 10mg of Lexapro at night. My symptoms were not as bad as they were when I took them together, but I still suffered reactions to both of them. Last night, I took 25mg of hydroxyzine which I have been taking for the last week to help me sleep due to insomnia and anxiety surrounding my symptoms. I had the same reaction as I usually do when I take Zoloft or Lexapro, and I read that hydroxyzine can influence serotonin, so this concerned me. Because I had a reaction from the hydroxyzine, I wanted to be cautious and skip my dose of Lexapro for risk of further toxicity. Today, I feel horrible. I am super nauseous, have had some chills, and have a very intense headache like pressure in my face. I am lost.. Should I reinstate the Lexapro at the lowest tolerable dose for me and try to stabilize from there? I don't know what to do anymore, if I am suffering from adverse reactions plus withdrawal. I am so scared of beginning this journey because it seems like it will be a long road of unknowns and suffering.

Hello. I want to share my story to you and try to find some hope in this tuff journey. I am sorry for my English, is not my native language. I was 25 when I got some panic attacks from weed use and did the mistake and visit psychiatrist. After deny medication he convinced me and took 20 MG of lexapro. First month I got hppd, that he claims it's not the drug and general mild reduce of my intelligence. I stayed on it and hppd went away, so I believe is a receptor thing. I stayed there and did three attempts get off all this years with his advice taper in one month the max dose. First attempt at 2016 after one year use I got extreme terror and anxiety, second extreme social fear and loss of weight, third is the last one I got extremely sick on it with reactions and extreme fatigue and all day migraines plus inflammation marker on blood so I cold turkey. Never heard of tapering before until this year. All My symptoms that I have and had severe after get off the med it was mild on Lexapro and I had signs for all. First months I get off even I didn't have my character etc I wasn't bedridden. My symptoms so far I deal with them are: Symptoms that got better at 20-70percent: Extreme vertigo, balance issues, walking issues, hand shaking, legs restless, spinning vision, severe oscilopsia, crashing sounds, smelling things didn't exist, couldn't sit on chair because felt my body collapsing for months, swallow issues ate only soups for months, fever, anxiety not severe like muted, toxic anxiety, extreme weight loss, cold dysfuction, hair loss, tmj, extreme fatigue, one sec working memory, extreme anger, extreme happiness, extreme crying spells,burning brain, missing brain feeling,(still have most of them but not in a range of make me bedbound). I regain 60-70percent of my hearing even left with tinitus. Started feel some music, started seeing dreams, gain 20 percent of visualization. (I had lost all of them on lex and didn't know from lobotomized) Symptoms that persist or getting worst: blank mind apathy, tinnitus, severe cognitive dysfuction, severe detached from world, words problem, severe confusion even do simple tasks, time problem perception, both long term and short memory loss, visual snow, hppd, akitenopsia, bomb exploding feeling on head General I deal with all kind of possible symptoms. This concern me it's that I had all this mild on Lexapro and I had esr inflammation marker.. So I believe is chronic damage. The severe dementia started ten months off. My personality has nothing to do that I was but I am worst even from my severe pssd I had on Lexapro. Did anyone got this one year off to his cognition and get better? I started go to my office with brother try do some things I used to but suffering 24/7 with no thoughts and brain. Can the cognition get better one year off? Love you all

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Hi. I started lexapro about 2 years ago, 2.5 mg ev day then went to ev other day for awhile. About a wk after stopping recently I had bad insomnia, so I started back & am trying to go more slowly. Is that even possible? Should I ask for the liquid? Also, any natural supplements that help? More info: I took it during college for about 1 yr, 10mg, and never had trouble with withdrawal (tapered slowly). I started this time at 2.5mg, had fatigue & nausea for 1 wk then it went away. I tried going up to 5 mg, but had weakness & tremors which scared me, so I just stayed at a quarter pill. It made a huge difference to my mood (for the better, no more depression, less anxiety & being bothered by little things). I guess I’m just super sensitive. After several months my fatigue got bad, so I went to every other day, mood stayed stable, energy was better. I think it’s causing fatigue again, as well as holding onto extra weight, so I decided to go to every 3rd day. I did have some breakthrough symptoms on those 3rd days. When that stopped, I figured I can’t go much lower, so I just stopped. My energy got so much better, I felt even slightly manic (which I NEVER have in my life! Lol) But I week later I stopped sleeping, like having to take xanax to sleep stopped (which is the wrong direction I want to go!) We have a couple trips coming up, so I went back on. I’m literally taking an 8th of a pill every other day now. Sleeping fine, but having other weird symptoms like brain fog, irritability, headaches. Plan is to stay on this dose through April, then what?? If I’m such a low dose, the insomnia shouldn’t last too long, right? We have nothing planned June-middle of Aug when kids’ school starts; will that be long enough?

Escitalopram tapering, i think i am dealing with withdrawal? I could use some help/ advice Hi ! i'm new here. I'm in the process of tapering. Until now I tapered down based on instructions of my doc. I really have the feeling they underestimate impact it has on people. It has been more than 3 weeks since the last drop to 5mg. I'm still dealing with: Physical: * problems with my stomach and intestines. I had diarrhea and then constipation for several days and now diarrhea again. Nausea is significantly reduced but still have bouts of nausea * Tinnitus much worse than usual * Headaches from time to time but seems to get less * a feeling in my head like my brain is too small for my head. * a very weird dizzy feeling in my head like you're on a boat. Sometimes I'm literally going back and forth a bit. This seems to be getting less * sometimes very dizzy standing up after picking something of the floor * night sweating, this seems to get better Mental: * I have a kind of constant feeling of dread / doom. I really feel it in my head and not my body and it is without any reason (hard to explain). * Overall feeling of bleeehhh. * more anxiety * I feel somewhat more depressed. * Can't concentrate * it's harder to deal with stressful situations * my memory seems to be worse. The weird thing also is 2 weeks after the drop I had some good days (3 or 4) and both mental and physical symptoms where better but then the symptoms came back with vengeance and i am in a bad way since. Are these from withdrawal .....since the last drop is already more than 3 weeks ago?? My plan is to see how i feel on 5mg for a good while and than taper down to 0. I would really appreciate some feedback if the symptoms i feel could be withdrawal and some advice on how long to stay on 5mg and the future taper to 0. Thanks !!

Hello I'm attempting to get off psychiatric drugs. I do not believe that I was mentally ill, but that I was deeply affected emotionally by trauma. I first got put on psych drugs after the birth of my first son, who was born with health issues. The psychiatrist put me on Paxil, and then Trazodone because I couldn't sleep. Fortunately that doctor took me off the drugs less than a year later. I didn't have any major issues coming off these drugs. Due to lots of stress factors in my life, I had anxiety. I was put on Serzone for a few years, then got off this without major problems. When I got pregnant with my 2nd child, my husband freaked out, because he was afraid this baby would also have health problems. I saw a psychiatrist, and he, with my OB/GYN's permission, put me on Paxil when I was 5.5 months pregnant with my 2nd child. He was born perfectly healthy. The Paxil caused me to gain lots of weight. I was up to 215 pounds. So my primary care doc switched me to Lexapro, thinking it would be more weight neutral. I was also put on Trazodone because of Insomnia. I tried several times in the past to get off these drugs, but each time, I had trouble with severe insomnia. I would call the doctor, and he would say I needed to go back on the drugs, so I did. Finally, I decided that I was definitely going to get off the drugs. I came to realize that these doctors don't know what they are doing. When I asked my psychiatrist why I was having such severe insomnia when trying to get off, he said to me "I don't know. Go back on it". (shaking my head). I started to wean off Lexapro 16 months ago, but 4 months into that my mother became severely ill, and so I went back to 1/2 of my original dose, which was 5 mg. I stayed on the 5 mg for about 9 months. Then, I started to wean off of it again. This was back in August of 2018. I've been very gradually coming off it. I'm on the liquid now, and have been dropping the dose by 0.5 milligrams each month. I did manage to wean off the Trazodone a year ago, while I was still on the 5 mg of Lexapro. The other thing that is complicating this withdrawal is that I'm menopausal and in my upper 50's. When I haven't changed the dose of Lexapro I don't have the hot flashes, but every time I reduce the lexapro the hot flashes return. I don't want to put off getting off of this toxic chemical. I don't think there will ever be a perfect time to get off these drugs. I'm so so close to being off of it. In the past 3 days, the hot flashes have been especially bad, and I've had little sleep because of that, and probably also because of being agitated by my drug withdrawal. The issues I'm having recently are: insomnia, agitation, anxiety off and on, tiredness and fatigue. The insomnia is the worst, but the hot flashes are contributing significantly to the insomnia. Any help or encouragement would be greatly appreciated. I'm doing many things to learn to cope. I'm reading books on how to cope with stress and anxiety and depression. I'm walking daily, eating healthy, cultivating healthy friendships, and best of all, cultivating a strong and deep spiritual life with prayer and bible reading.

First, I had bad anxiety in my early twenties. Started Effexor, took it for about a year then tried stopping with a fast taper. I got fired from work 4 ou 5 months later and my anxiety went up big time. Started Effexor again. Went up to 110mg, but I was having many side effects so after talking to my doctor, I decided to stop. I reduced the dosage over 2 months then stop. Went throught withdrawal for a few weeks and then things got quiet for a few months. I started getting hit by some fairly heavy anxiety and panic attacks without stress to trigger it. I went back to effexor for a few months and then I switched to escitalopram 10mg to try and see if I would have less side effects. I stayed on escitalopram 10mg for at least 6 years. Now, at the start of January 2024, I run out of escitalopram for a few days. That's when I decided to try and quit. Just like that. The withdrawal was hell. A lot of brain zap, anger that I could not contain at all, brain fog, insomnia, etc. After 6 weeks, most of the symptoms were gone or wayyyy more manageable. 1 week before the 4 months mark, I started getting vertigo and feeling dizzy. I had no idea what was going on. My anxiety started acting up again and I took an appointment with my doctor. He's starting me on 5mg escitalopram again. I took my first half pill 8 hours ago and I feel absolutely awful: It's impossible to sleep, I had 2 panic attacks, I feel like I need to walk all the time and my hands are shaking. And now i'm scared to death, does it mean that I have kindled? Should I keep taking 5mg and see if it stabilize? Should I lower to 2.5? Should I stop?!

Hello, I was hoping someone could give me some advice about some severe symptoms I've been experiencing since switching from Lexapro to Prozac and back again. Here is my story: Diagnosed with OCD and depression at 18. Prescribed 60 mg Prozac which I eventually manage to reduce to 30 mg. Continue taking this dose of Prozac for about 20 years. At the end of last year Prozac seems to have lost its effectiveness so I speak to my doctor about switching to Lexapro which I've heard has less side effects. As instructed by my doctor I reduce my Prozac dose to 20 mg for two weeks, wait 5 days without medication, and then start on 10 mg Lexapro. Soon after starting Lexapro I develop some very unpleasant side-effects, most notably heart palpitations and tinnitus. I speak with the doctor who tells me not to be concerned because the side effects are caused by "anxiety". Against my better judgment I continue taking the Lexapro for a total of 25 days. At this point the palpitations are so bad I have to stop taking the Lexapro immediately. I wait two days and then reinstate the Prozac at 40 mg. Things seem to be reasonably okay for about 3 weeks before all hell breaks loose. I wake up in the middle of the night with such extreme palpitations and dizziness that I end up in ER. However, the doctors find nothing wrong with my heart, conclude its anxiety and send me home. Two hellish weeks of palpitation induced insomnia and intermittent akathesia follow. During this time I have a number of medical tests but nothing abnormal shows up in the results. The palpitations are worse when I lie down and though they cause some anxiety I am convinced they are not caused by anxiety. It feels like the part of my nervous system responsible for controlling my heart has been physically damaged in some way. When I try to explain this to my psychiatrist and cardiologist they don't understand. The psychiatrist gives me Valium and the cardiologist gives me a beta blocker. None of these seem to make much difference so I'm given some Ambien to help me sleep. I take the Ambien for about 5 nights before I decide I'd rather deal with the insomnia. Eventually I get some kind of sleep, but it is still very fragmented and the palpitations persist. My chest feels really tight as if my heart is being pushed up against my chest bone and the palpitations are worsened by lying down, eating or feeling cold. I lose my appetite and drop from 78 to 69 kgs in weight. I start filming my sleep so that I can show my doctor what happens. The footage shows me suffering from hypnic jerks and muscle twitching. These jerks are accompanied by electric shock like sensations that wake me up. During the day I am still tortured by this uncomfortable feeling in my chest and the ongoing palpitations. It feels like my heart has a mind of its own and has been knocked out of sync with the rest of my body. The tinnitus (a loud, high-pitched ringing) also continues. After 18 years at the same company I have to take sick leave for the first time. I have been off work for a month now and have no idea when I'll be able to go back. I continue to take 30 mg Prozac because I feel things would be even worse without it. During the day I walk because this seems to help with the palpitations. I've started taking Magnesium L Threonate and krill oil supplements. I desperately want my life back.

Hello, short time lurker, first time poster. 👋 I am currently tapering off (liquid) Lexapro and recently hit a brick wall. My fault though, I made the mistake of not holding my drops long enough so I can stabilize. ..aaaand holy wave. It hit me hard. Symptoms? Here we go: Hard time controlling my thoughts, feeling like I’m going insane, waking up with complete dread that lasts almost all day, existential thoughts, crying spells (mostly from all the mental agony I’ve dealt with all day that ends in a breakdown), dizziness, loss of appetite, high heart rate, palpitations, DP/DR, super low tolerance to stress, anhedonia, agoraphobia, intense “adrenaline like” mood drops and probably a few others I can’t think of because, hey, brain fog and cognitive dysfunction too 😫 I ended up reinstating my dose back from 2.6mg to 2.8mg. I have work and kids I have to worry about and I was becoming tied to my bed, not functioning. Like many of you, we find ourselves scrolling on the interwebs for hours trying to find answers and moments of relief. I have to say, I’m grateful for this site and the abundance of information and support. When I’m feeling overwhelmed and stuck (which I’m almost positive those who are reading this have felt), I hop on and read success stories. Many of these posts put the words to the feelings I have never been able to describe. As of right now, I’m trying to take it easy and relax because life has been a series of just simply “existing” lately. Sending all the hugs to whoever is reading this and struggling lately. This, too, shall pass. 🤍

Diagnosed with panic and adjustment disorder 1987. Experienced 3 situational depressions (1 was postpartum). SSRI for 30 yrs. Just RI Lexapro to 5 mg after a failed 4 day discontinuation from 2.5 mg. Seems to be helping in waves and windows. Dr appointment next month but he has told me that if I stop Lexapro, protracted w/d possible with treatment resistant depression surfacing. Advises that I should consider staying on for life. I am afraid of both staying on and discontinuing. I've read about severe, untreatable akathisia, protracted w/d and all other horror stories. I am worried that one or two months out from discontinuing, symptoms will return that can't be treated. 1. Will a gradual slow microtaper from 5 mg. (after stabilization) prevent a protracted w/d? 2. What if I experience another situational depression, how to treat it then? 3. What are risks of staying on a low dose SSRI 2.5 or under? 4. Is that better than risking protracted and untreatable w/d? Last situational depression 8 yrs ago, Dr switched SSRIs and now I realize what I went through was was w/d on top of the depression. Had to rely on Lorazepam for 3 months and did a gradual successful taper off. I believe I was very fortunate given the horrific Benzo stories.I cannot fathom relying on Benzos again and would rather stay on Lexapro low dose than risk benzo dependence. I would appreciate thoughts on the above. Thank you!

Hi friends... When SSRI's came into my life, they saved me. Through most of my life (teens and twenties) I had successfully lived with my mental health struggles using tools such as exercise, time outdoors, and an ever changing and stimulating lifestyle as one has during this time of their life. When I moved in my early 30s, completely upending my life as I had never lived anywhere else, I was no longer able to deal with the depths my depression took me to. After failing to find relief from Wellbutrin, I reluctantly decided to try Lexapro. It truly saved me when I was at my lowest point until then. I knew about some of the side effects, weight gain, lower libido, which is why I hesitated. But, as I was no longer functioning, something needed to change. And, it did. What I did not know, was how horrific it was going to be to try to get back off of this drug. I understand myself better now, and I've created an environment in my life that should help me to thrive. But then there is this drug. It is like a veil. More subtle than the depression was, but still something that keeps me from living fully. It keeps me from feeling fully. In 2019, I was ready to come off of the drug. With a new psychiatrist (not the one who initially prescribed SSRI to me), I expressed that I was ready to come off of Lexapro. She told me to cut the dose in half for a few weeks, then in half again, then for a few more weeks, then I would be off the medication. After 5 days at half dose, I was having flu-like symptoms, crying whenever I moved more intensely than a walk, not sleeping....it was too much. I told my doctor and she said to go back to the full dose and we could try again slower at a later time. Then, she retired, and I moved to help my Mom go through cancer treatment. Not a good time to remove your antidepressant. In April 2023, my Mom went into remission, I had the best job, I lived in a place that was good for my soul, and I had so much support around me that I was ready to try again. I did not have a new doctor by now to support me, but I had learned the first time that I needed to slow the tapering process down. I thought I could do it. I reduced my dose by only 25% for 2 weeks, then again to half dose for 1 day. After not sleeping for 4 consecutive nights in a row in addition to the previous WD symptoms I had the first time, I went back to full dose. I was angry and sad. I felt like I had no control and my inability to come off the drug made me want to come off it even more. Why don't doctors tell you about this before they put you on it???? Yes, I've gained weight, my sex life has suffered, but not being able to stop taking this little pill is appalling. I didn't sign up to be dependent on a life-numbing drug for my entire lifetime!@@ My Mom did pass away this last year. The last thing I've needed since April is to take away this crutch when my heart has been more broken than it ever has before. But I am healing, and I think part of that healing process is to take back full ownership and control over my mind and body by getting off Lexapro. I have a two new doctors who are going to support me through this, and I have this site!!! I am so incredibly thankful for the resources and stories about people's journeys going through the same process I will. Thank you all SO MUCH for this site. My new doctors have prescribed me some additional psychoactive drugs to support this process: Lamotrigine and Bupropion. I am taking these to help alleviate WD symptoms from tapering off Lexapro, but I am very anxious about becoming dependent on these as well. My goal is to come off all psychoactive drugs to see where I am in navigating my mental health without chemical support. We will see...

Hello All, it's been a long time since I have logged in here and posted. My story is located here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/7761-%E2%98%BC-aeroman-hello-from-aeroman/?st=0 I have been good, fully recovered from Lexapro and Cipro use. I don't think about withdrawal anymore. The answer was TIME and GOD in both cases. For those that are new to withdrawal, don't fret, you will be OK. I know the beginning months are scary but it won't last forever. Feel free to ask me questions as I am sure you will have many..especially doubts within yourself. Aeroman

Hi i weaned myself off Zoloft after 12 years and started getting symptoms so tried to get back on with terrible consequences - panic attacks, burning skin, burning brain and depression. My doctor kept upping the dose and things got worse and worse. She then changed me to Lexapro and that was as bad and she increased me again. She then introduced Mirtazapine. I went up to 30mg Mirtazapine and lowered Lexapro from 15mg to 7.5mg. my symptoms are still terrible. I know it’s not good to substitute for another medicine but I heard lamotrigine can help with withdrawal. Do you have experience with this and would it help me? Thanks

Hi Everyone, I am just going to jump right into this. I developed anxiety 4 years ago after having several life crisis in a months time. My mom was diagnosed w Dementia. My little sister was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer. I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma.A childhood friend died in his sleep from heart failure. I tipped over from the stress. I went to my GP and she started throwing AD's at me to help silence the anxiety. The AD's only made me worse. I went to the ER one night after experiencing my first panic attack The ER Dr gave me a script for Ativan. I took it for four weeks and then stopped because I was feeling much better. A few days later my world turned on it's axis. I didn't know what was happening. My anxiety was worse, I was pacing, heart racing, Panic attacks daily.... I went to my GP and she said I needed to see a Psychiatrist. To get in to see anyone was 3 months. I started to spiral. I had no idea I was in withdrawal! I ended up in the hospital to get help for my anxiety. I was put on Effexor (75mg)and Klonopin (.25mg). I stabilized and was sent home. I did really well on Effexor. After 4 months on Klonopin I started to slowly taper off. I tapered over 3 months. The taper went pretty well. I was cutting and weighing my pills. 8 months after that I felt good and talked to my Psychiatrist about tapering off of the Effexor. She strongly recommended to go slow and we did. I tapered for almost 7 months. To be honest, the Klonopin was easier to come off of than the Effexor. She put me on Prozac before my last cut of Effexor. Tapered off of the Prozac over 3/ months. I still had some anxiety but it was tolerable. It felt AMAZING to be free of AD'S and the Benzo....then COVID hit and my mom passed away. Anxiety came back w a vengeance. I ended up back in the hospital after a very bad reaction to Zoloft. My new psychiatrist kept telling me to "push through," the first 3 months. I was back on Klonopin but now it was.50mg twice a day.The hospital took me cold turkey off of Zoloft and started me on Remeron and Trazadone. The next day they added clonidine. The klonodine didn't agree w my system at all and I was taken off of that in two days. They released me from the hospital 5 days later. I lasted two weeks on Remeron. I was so disoriented, confused, high anxiety and felt like I could become violent on them so they weaned me off of that over 4 days and put me back on Prozac. Prozac didn't help my anxiety, I had constant headaches for months! I did get an MRI and it was normal. I started to feel more and more depressed on it. I was on Prozac for maybe two months when my psychiatrist took me off of that (tapered over 6 weeks) and put me on Lexapro. I had to have back surgery during this. I did NOT take a single pain med out of fear of making my WD worse. At first I thought the Lexapro was helping? I was still having breakthrough anxiety so he bumped it up. My Psychiatrist retired and a new woman came in to take his place until they could find a new one. She bumped my Lexapro up to 25mg when I told her I was having major anxiety rushes, my face would get bright red, I wasn't sleeping very well. That increased dosage was the worst! I was like a zombie but w heightened anxiety. I couldn't work, I would sit at my desk and space off for hours! I felt awful. So, she told me to start tapering off of the Lexapro (4 weeks total! I knew better...) and she wanted to cross taper me onto Effexor. I started that and boy....the depression was BRUTAL! I was not sleeping well, could hardly focus, anxiety was high, my legs felt like jelly, my head would burn, I felt my brain tingle all the time... I was nearing the end of my rope. I was desperate for a Psychiatrist that CARED. The interim Psych left and a new one came in. She wanted me off of the Effexor because she felt it was too hard to come off of and if it didn't work for me, I would be in for hell. I told her I was scared to switch AGAIN and she assured me that switching to Duoloxetine was it's "sister drug," and I shouldn't have an issue. I trusted her. The last 3 months have been.... (How do describe this hell?!) a daily battle to push through hell on earth. I am still working, I can still function, I take care of myself, my home, my dog. I am a divorced woman with a 22 year old son. I live by myself with my Rottweiler. Life is so friggin' hard when you are trying to get thorough this mess. I now have a WONDERFUL and caring Psychiatric nurse practitioner who truly cares. She is holding me on the last 10mg of Lexapro until the Effexor/Lexapro WD calms down...IF it calms down. I should tell you that I can't believe I have pushed through the last year. My symptoms have been Burning in my head, headaches, tingling in my head, mood fluctuations, burning on my skin, bloodshot eyes, pressure on my chest, sensitivity to heat, depression, sweat easily, joint pain, ringing in my ears, no motivation, grinding my teeth, feeling mentally off at times, at the beginning I couldn't sit still, short tempered, at times in the beginning of the Lexapro taper, I didn't want to talk at times...like I almost couldn't, buzzing in my body, feel like I'm going crazy sometimes, anxiety rushes...etc I am interested in this group for support and the combined knowledge from it's members. I know that NO ONE can tell me when this is going to end. What I am hoping is that someone can tell me what I am going through is normal for all of the med changes? I am honestly concerned if I am still having problems because of the Duoloxetine? My anxiety IS better since I have been on it. I get 8 hours of sleep. I don't drink. I don't use illegal drugs, don't smoke. I eat pretty healthy. I don't exercise. It's tough to get out for walks when you feel like hell and I guess I save my mental energy to work. I know I have rambled on. My mind feels like it's in a vice and also these drugs affect how well I put my thoughts into words. For the most part I am a happy and well adjusted person. I feel like the last few years have been stolen from me because I faithfully followed Dr's instructions and thought they knew best...I was so wrong. Thank you for your time. Blessings to all of you.

I have been on Lexapro 5 mg for roughly 2 years now. These last couple of months I made the decision to want to discontinue Lexapro, so I started a taper down to 2.5 mg for one month. Recently I made the switch to 1.5 mg and I missed a couple of dosages. It was then I started to experience, what I think are withdrawal symptoms. Irritability Heart Palpitations Crying Spells Anxiety & Depression Panic Attacks I spoke to my Psychiatrist and she told me that it was not WS, but instead Rebound Systems. She explained that my body needs the medication. She also mentioned that it was unlikely that I would have WS with such a low dosage. Is this true? Has anyone else experienced WS with such a low dosage? I’ve been doings loads of reading on here, so I hope that I can stabilize with 2.5 mg soon! I’m curious to know when ppl have stabilized and how long it took for everyone to reach stability.

Hi, everyone! I was taking 60mg Cymbalta for 13 years. I stared on 2011 and on 2013 I was experincing tiredness and sleepiness and was needing constant naps in order to be able to function. I also developed visual snow. -2015 to 2022: I started to gain a lot of weight and was having extreme water retention. At some point, I was at 93 kilos. Nothing I did was helping with the weight. The fatigue and daytime sleepiness persisted. All my tests were normal. I started to feel like the medication had something to do with it so I decided to cut the dose from 60mgs to 30mgs and it was fairly easy. I was able to lose some weight after this reduction and some of my tiredness and daytime sleepiness went away but not completely. A few months later I decided to go from 30mgs to 15mgs over 40 days. I experienced some withdrawal symptoms and a lot of general destabilization on several systems (hormonal and immune), but was able to get over them and stabilize over a 6 month period. I was definitely not the same, but the symptoms were manageable. However, I did start to experience insomnia, so I was occasionally taking Zopiclone to help with that. 2023-2024: I decided to go from 15mg to 0 over 30 days. Initially, I experienced some lightheadedness, irritability, lack of sleep and general overwhelm. After 2 weeks, my sleep started to get worse and I was getting panic attacks here and there. I was waking up out of nowhere at 3 a.m. with extreme irritability. I started taking zopiclone again and that helped. After a couple of weeks, I decided to stop the zopiclone completely. I continued to wake up at 12 and 3 am with some discomfort and any minor sound would wake me up. Some nights I was able to fall back at sleep, while other nights I was unable to do so. I had to quit my job, as I was not tolerating stress at all and felt like I was burning out. 3 months go by and I continue to have the same sleep issues. There were times where I seemed to be stable, but then I would have a reoccurrence of symptoms. I also started to feel tingling and burning sensations on my left hand and foot, and I was also having some speech and memory issues. I was still feeling irritable and having panic attacks here and there. At this point, I was not attributing any of this to the medication since I was med free for 3 months and there was no way this could be withdrawal. I was also fairly energetic (the daytime sleepiness and tiredness went completely away after stopping the medication and I also lost all of the overweight). I wasn’t feeling depressed at all. Just a bit anxious. Then, suddenly, I started to feel really bad and could feel my heart skipping beats here and there. I started to feel extremely anxious and after one night of not being able to sleep, I started to experience panic attacks 24/7. I was having excessive rumination and looping thoughts. I also started to have demonic nightmares and Intrusive thoughts. I was constantly bombarded with adrenaline, my hair was falling out (still is)…. I couldn’t drive or leave the house anymore and I continued to wake up at 12 and 3 a.m. but with extreme panic and a racing heart and what felt like a cortisol discharge/rush. I felt this sensation on my upper abdomen, chest and back. Every new symptom was making everything worse, I was extremely agitated. The burning sensation on my left side became permanent and more intense and trying to relax was impossible. If I was trying to relax and started to fall asleep, a shock like sensation accompanied by a light in my mind’s eye would immediately wake me up with panic. The visual phenomena got so much worse. Sleeping became pretty much impossible and if I ever did sleep I felt like my body was asleep but my mind was completely awake ruminating. Appetite was also completely gone at this point. I was able to endure this for a month and then I just couldn’t do it anymore, I was progressively getting worse…. I started to get suicidal because living like this was simply impossible. I booked an appointment with a psychiatrist, and he said this was because I was having a reoccurrence of "my condition" due to stopping the medication. I told him I never experienced something like this in my life before and he said that it probably had to with the fact that I’m older now (I’m 36). I didn’t believe this, but I was so desperate that I accepted new medication as I didn't want to take Cymbalta ever again. He prescribed 10 mg of Lexapro: I felt immediate relief for some symptoms (they dimineshed in intensity), but it took 3 to 4 weeks to fully feel close to normal again. He also prescriped Klonopin, but I have only taken this when absolutely necessary in a super low dose since I don't need a new medication to withdrawal from. It's been 2 months and a half now and, after doing my research, I’m now understanding that I’m dealing with protracted withdrawal. Wish I knew all of this info sooner! While most of the symptoms are gone, some have stayed: I still wake up one or multiple times at night with this weird feeling on my chest, but it is definitely more tolerable now. I get an intrusive thought and nightmares here and there and the burning sensations are still present but way milder. Somedays, I can’t feel them at all, but for the most part, they are still present. I’ve noticed the symptoms get worse around ovulation and continue to be intense for a week or 2 until I get my period. Part of me wants to stay on this medication since I don’t ever want to live in a horror movie again and I'm stable overall, but, unfortunately, the daytime sleepiness and tiredness I used to get from Cymbalta are back. I’m now also realizing that I had other symptoms that were caused by the medication that I never attributed to it, like heart palpitations after eating, head and back pain, and exercise and heat intolerance. I didn’t have any of these while I was off the medication, but have now returned since taking Lexapro. Unfortunately, I can’t live this way either. It is very hard to be productive when you are feeling sleepy and tired throughout the day and this is where I’m at right now. I'm planning on starting a hyperbolic taper. Of course, I'm scared to live that hell again, but I also can't live feeling sleepy and tired most of the time. What are your thoughts? Thank you all in advance!

Hello everyone! Here is my introduction topic. Today marks one year I stopped antidepressants (Escitalopram). I have been completely symptom-free for 2 months as of March 2022, but the biggest improvement in symptoms came past month 6-7 into withdrawal, I would say last October (2021). I am aware that this is quite fast and that I was lucky, but nonetheless I wish to document my journey to give hope to everyone that's struggling, be it 2 weeks or 2 years in. Because despite my WD being short, I 100% honestly started to believe I would never ever feel "normal", let alone feel like myself again. My history with Escitalopram I wanna preface this by stating that Escitalopram helped me immensely with my initial issues in the first place. I have always been anxious and I will always be anxious. In August of 2017 however, I was put on Escitalopram 10mg when it spiraled out of control (I developed severe OCD and hypochondria (health anxiety)). Within 3 weeks, the medication allowed me to live a normal life again. As it was a success, in 2018 I stopped the medication (10mg to 5mg in june and then stopped completely). I had no withdrawal syndrome at all and spent a wonderful summer. I relapsed in October 2017 (it was OCD and not withdrawal, 100% sure), and was put back on Escitalopram 10mg in November 2018, following therapy along too. I therefore followed therapy and stayed on Escitalopram 10mg for another 2 years and 2 months from Nov 2018, up until January 2021 when my psychiatrist and I both agreed to try and stop antidepressants again as I felt much more stable and able to live without its help. From 10mg, the taper was: 5mg through Jan-Feb 2021, and then 5mg one day out of two through Feb-March, until I stopped mid-March 2021. Through the taper, I did not notice any symptom save from fatigue, but to this day I'm unsure if it was the taper or just the season (I suffer greatly from seasonal lack of sunlight!!). My withdrawal journey and symptoms A few days after my last Escitalopram dose, around March 18th 2021, my anxiety ramped up for no reason. On days 7-10 I got GI symptoms, and thought I had a stomach flu (still unsure if it was the start of WD or stomach flu!). Then a couple days later, I awoke brutally a few hours after falling asleep to full-body tremors that scared me a lot, I never had this before. This moment, for me, marked the start of my WD journey, for when I woke up later again in the morning, I felt a dread I never felt before. March-May of 2021 were atrocious. I believe it was the "acute" part of WD. I was feeling such a wide array of very physical and mental symptoms that I never had to deal with before, not even before medication when my mental issues were debilitating. I woke up every single day drenched in anxiety, filled with INSANE dread the whole day. I had huge crying bouts and intrusive thoughts, feelings of very very intense despair and helplessness. Anxiety would usually alleviate in the evenings but I was exhausted due to how my body was in flight or fight mode the whole day. My "windows" lasted a few hours, or half a day at max. My appetite was gone and I had nausea every single day on and off (else I would just not have any appetite) for a rough 4-6 months, which was one of the hardest things for me to deal with. I'm still undoing the damage of this extreme weight loss as I type this. It is in June-July of 2021 that the physical symptoms were the hardest. I had full-body exhaustion, maybe due to the severe weight loss, I remember doing my things on auto-pilot. However, this is what helped me move forwards: even at my lowest, I was able to pull through and my body helped me move forwards despite feeling so crippled. In WD it became SO important to hold on such "reminders" and remember that I could trust myself and my body. I also developed photophobia in June-July, which lasted for 1 month and a half. It was very very weird, I had unilateral sharp eye pain upon looking at anything bright. I cannot stress enough that I never had such symptoms before ever, never had migraines etc, and it remained something isolated as I didn't have photophobia since!! In Sept-December of 2021 , I mentally felt at a much better place and much more confident in my ability to heal despite symptoms still being part of my everyday life: mostly because my appetite slowly, FINALLY came back. On a daily basis, I had to deal with headaches still, pin and needles, derealisation, tough time focusing and dizzy spells that were quite scary. I was feeling off and/or derealisation, or anxious with some intrusive thoughts. Mid-January of 2022, I realised I had no symptoms at all for a week and that my last wave was probably a few weeks ago already. Maybe a couple dizzy spells through the beginning of January, but they wore off. Another week passed. And another... and a month... and here I am now, 2 months after what I consider to be my last symptoms, and one year after my last Escitalopram dose. This forum, along with the resilience I built through the past years, allowed me to brunt the force of what is to this day the hardest thing I've gone through. I kept going on because I said to myself everyday that this will pass, that healing will happen. And it did. It was slow at first. I was counting the good days, and at one point I stopped paying daily attention to how I was feeling, rather noticing the days where I felt off: they were getting rarer. I kept track of all my symptoms in a journal, and looking back I cannot believe I experienced this whole list (I haven't listed everything here else this post would be even longer lol), it sounds absolutely mental, yet here I am, at the top of a mountain I wasn't expecting to have to climb. And what a hike it was. What helped me with some of the symptoms? To deal with nausea, I paid great attention to eat more often but in small amounts and drink a lot. My GP prescribed me proteinated fruit juice as well. I would eat "bland" foods such as unseasoned rice or pasta as it gives you energy and sustenance still. The days (or hours) where the nausea gave me a break, I tried to eat varied foods. I kept a very balanced diet, and didn't cut anything save from caffeine for 2 months (without changing from what I usually ate, as I feared this would destabilise me further). When anhedonia hit me I just let the day pass, because sometimes "existing" is enough of an effort and it's okay; and I tried to not mull over the fact that even my hobbies didn't bring me joy. I tried to focus on the absolute smallest things that felt nice: the breeze from my ajar window, the feeling of fresh water as I washed my hands, the odd birds outside in the distance... It's a great habit to take, actually, to become a bit "contemplative". A shame I had to discover this when everything else felt bad, but better late than never. A warm shower would usually help my anxiety and/or crying bouts. It is the simplest yet most efficient thing honestly now that I remember it. Restorative yoga was also helpful sometimes (I never tried yoga before WD and it is one good habit I took during my journey!) Repeating to myself that things come and go, including the hardships. Radical acceptance was a great read (I ought to find the link to the specific post again, I'll edit this later). And now... I can now drink coffee/alcohol just like before (I never abused it!). I can focus on and write my thesis, read complicated theoretical books, hold a conversation without feeling alien, hell I'm even less shy than before, I eat in great amounts and I have almost put back all the weight I lost. I just feel... profoundly normal. Back in my shoes. I think my outlook on life changed a bit. It became more optimistic, more appreciative mostly because I coped with the atrocious feelings of withdrawal by focusing on the small things (when you've got nothing else...); and/or repeating to myself what people said on this forum and what I came to learn as I progressed, which is that healing eventually happens and that good days and bad days will always alternate, even if sometimes one part overpowers the others. Eventually, it evens out, and it's worth it when you look back at what you've been through. Thanks everyone on SurvivingAntidepressants for making this possible - with your support, your advice, your journeys. We'll all get there and I hope from the bottom of my heart that all of you feel the relief that I got the chance to feel very soon. If you're struggling and reading this: you're insanely strong for having soldiered on every single difficult day in your life. I'm just an internet stranger, but I'm proud of you, and I want to promise you that better days are ahead.

I started taking lexapro about 5 years ago was on 20mg. I tapered off over the course of 9 weeks by 10mg each. I've been off for 12 days. I've been feeling the brain zaps which I expected, I was tired and irritable which I expected. One night I woke up in a dead slee with pgad symptoms. Who would have thought that an anti depressant withdrawal would have caused this? I do not have it as bad as what I read but it is there. Im also feeling itchyness all over my body. Tingling everywhere, did anyone have pgad from withdrawal? Did it go away? How long did it take? I came off the lexapro to try and have a baby with my husband. Iam now devastated. Please give me some positivity! (mod note: Original title: Pgad help! Does it ever go away!)

Hello. I’m a 31 year old female. Straight, single, no kids. From California. I am alcohol-free since 1/1/18 and don’t smoke or use drugs. I was diagnosed with anxiety in 2001, depression in 2013, and have had moderate to severe emetophobia for as long as I can remember (this contributes to most of my anxiety). My first time being prescribed an antidepressant was at age 12. I was on a low dose of Paxil CR after being hospitalized for mysterious ailments that turned out to be anxiety-related. I’m not sure but I think I was on that med approximately six months. I don’t remember having any issues coming off it. In my last year of college (2013), at age 23, I started experiencing a worsening of anxiety and depression symptoms and ended up back on Paxil. Between then and early 2016 I was on and off Paxil, Zoloft, and Wellbutrin. I gained a lot of weight from the SSRIs which started negatively affecting my health. I was able to get off the combo I was taking (Paxil and Wellbutrin) in 2015(?) with tolerable and brief withdrawal symptoms, and was having great success managing my life with healthy habits and talk therapy. That all came crashing down when I decided to buy my first house. (A decision I now regret!) The stress of it all made me start having panic attacks at work so I decided to go back on medication. I started with Zoloft but the second time around it gave me terrible side effects. Next was Prozac which was just a week of misery. So I finally tried Lexapro. It worked. But over the course of the next several years I gained even more weight, and along with unhealthy lifestyle choices, ended up with a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Along with the type 2 diabetes, my absolute worst struggle is fatigue. I have low energy every single day of my life. It got so bad that I was almost fired from my job for excessive tardiness; I’d sleep though alarms. I actually ended up quitting that job and selling my house because my mental and physical health were sinking to their lowest. I spent over six months on disability and moved back in with my parents. I eventually started working part time. And now I’m back to working full time and recently moved alone in a nice rented apartment. The constant, everyday, debilitating fatigue is still there. I tried everything to remedy it, even had a sleep study done. Nothing. The sleep doctor said that SSRIs can disrupt sleep patterns. So through process of elimination I’ve come to the conclusion that my chronic fatigue is because of the Lexapro. Between that, no sex drive (and thus being single for the past 7 years), and the metabolic issues, I’m determined to get off it. Which brings me here. I first tried getting off my 15mg/day dose in summer 2019. I took the bad advice from a homeopathic doctor to taper down 5mg every two weeks. It was hell and even after stretching that out a bit, I had to go back to the full 15 and eventually 20mg dose after six weeks. I’m now on my second attempt to taper. I easily got back down to 15mg in January 2020. In October 2020 I talked to my psych NP (who’s been managing my medication for several years now) and she prescribe me liquid Lexapro so I can start a slower taper this time. I started off going down 1mg each week, sometimes two weeks if needed. I didn’t have too many issues. The main symptoms were fatigue, nausea, dizziness/lightheadedness, and brain zaps. January 22, 2021 I got down to 3mg and that’s where I still am because for some reason I’ve been smacked on my a** with symptoms. I’m experiencing all the physical symptoms above, but worse; now along with crying jags, derealization, irritability, intrusive thoughts, and depressive mood. They’re not constant but they’re enough to really mess up my life right now. (Pandemic burn out is definitely a contributing factor as well.) So I’m here on this site to navigate this last leg of my taper. Feel free to drop a comment, give advice, ask a question, or just say hi. I’m using this site mostly on my phone so I’ll do my best to figure it out and add my signature line ASAP.

Hi everyone. I’m so happy to have found this website. I’m not an English native speaker, but will try to share my story. I have been on Lexapro for around 4 years now, and since Januari of this year I have tapered my dose from 7,5mg to 1mg. It was prescribed to me for chronic depression, and I’ve been seeing psychologists for most of my life. Since end of last year I’m doing better due to some events in my live and having found a more holistic approach and tools to battle my mental issues. This helped me make the decision to try tapering the Lexapro again. I have very limited medical support with this process. My GP prescribed me the drug at the time, but it became clear quite soon that they had no idea about the side effects. Also, one other psychiatrist told me that if I was unhappy about Lexapro, I should try another drug. I refuse to do so, because I’m so tired of being on these drugs. I lost faith in modern day psychiatry. I am looking into the tips on tapering after reducing the dose to 1 mg. For now I plan to reduce to 0,9 mg by diluting the drop of Lexapro liquid in water. Hope to be able to share experiences with users here, as this seems the only place where I can get help. Thank you.

Hi I was prescribed Paroxetine and Lexapro for over 10 years for my depression and anxiety. Tbh I was prescribed an array of medications by my first doctor who seemed hell bent on throwing them at me like tic tacs. After still having suicidal idealtion, endless crying spells, depression and anxiety another medication was added to the growing list...Zoloft. I had a severe reaction and had to stop it in a day. It traumatised me so much, I didn't resume my Lexapro medication. I went on with my life and for the first month I was fine and didn't really notice the absence of Lexapro in my life. But then I was struck down with anxiety and depression and tried to go back on my 5mg of Lexapro but got an allergic reaction from being off them for a month. I have been put on St. John's Wort and I'm trying to hold on but I'm losing all hope as I see my life collapse before my eyes. I'm physically getting worse and feel so physically weak and nauseated. I have brain zaps and tingles. I can't eat or exercise and feel that my life is over. It's absolutely terrifying. I fear becoming homeless because I need a job and money for essentials. I miss the person I used to be and never felt so alone in my life. There's no one that seems to understand and no support network in Australia. I know I didn't taper slowly enough and it would of been wise to do it slower. But unfortunately I tried to restart using Lexapro and had severe allergic reactions. We also don't have it in liquid form in Australia for a 10 percent tapering reduction. I now live all alone with no partner or support network. I'm 49 years old and feel that my life is over. Living with no hope, physical and mental symptoms, suicidal idealation, loneliness and despair coupled with financial stress makes me feel as though I just can't make it through this. I'm starting to lose all hope.

Hey Everyone, I have been working on coming off of Lexapro for years and this is the closest I have ever been. Long story short, I have been weaning off lexapro after a couple of failed attempts of 20mg. I am currently at 5mg and having severe waves and windows of withdrawal. Looking for a little support that this is normal. I have a week or two where I feel phenomenal then suddenly a sharp drop where all the suicidal fake thoughts intrude. This also includes horrible chest pain, nausea, gastrointestinal issues, insomnia and just an overall feeling of dread. These last anywhere from two weeks to a couple of days. I am unsure about whether I should continue a taper, or if I should hold, but from what I am reading this is going to be a long arduous process. Any support or advise is appreciated. Been reading many of the articles on here and just now decided to try to become a member myself. Thanks so much.

Mod note: link to: Happy2Heal: Hope I'm doing this right (Introduction and update topic) I was just an 18yr old, a very confused, naive young woman, er no- more of a child, really- when I was given (by force) my first psych drug, stelazine, a major tranquilizer. that was the beginning of a long series- spanning almost 40 yrs!- of psych drugs and hospitalizations. All along the way, I was plastered with one diagnosis after another, or several heaped on at once. My physical health went downhill and I ended up a virtual shut-in, living my life all in my head, friendless, socially isolated to the extreme, my only contact with drs and therapists, leaving my house to go food shopping maybe twice a month. This wasn't living, and I knew it. But I didn't know how to change things. I didn't know what was wrong. I spent over two thirds of my life believing I was mentally ill and *needed* to be on those drugs. but at some point, it occurred to me that the drugs might actually be the problem, or at least, part of the problem. I knew I had to get off them. and I did. The process and the pain of that is reported on my thread, I don't care to go back over it, at least not now. I learned a lot along the way, but for now, I don't want to think about where I've been, I only want to think about where I am now, and the life I have before me. Here I am, now, one year off all drugs, of all kinds. I rarely even take a ibuprofen for a headache. I want to write my success story, but I'm not 100% ready yet However I do have to say that what I feel most of all, is a great deal of pride in having survived. I suffered all forms of abuse as a child, emotional, sexual, physical, verbal, went on to be a survivor of rape, of domestic abuse. I was abused within the mental health system. I've spent virtually all of my adult life in poverty, raising my daughter as a single mom on disability due to "mental illness". But today, I feel as if I've done more than just survive; I am thriving. I have friends. I have a very active social life. I volunteer and I feel like the work I do is making a difference, having an impact. while technically I am still 'poor' by income, I don't go without anything I need, with the possible exception of good dental care I have a good life. Is my withdrawal journey over? I'm not sure.While I took my last dose of lexapro over a year ago, I feel like I am still having some symptoms that must be related to the nearly 4 DECADES on psych meds. BUT you need to know, these symptoms are extremely mild. and after that long on so many different drugs, it stands to reason that there will be minor little tweaks that my brain will need to make, for some time to come. I'd like to say that all that has faded into the background of my life, but to be honest: I am more vigilant about them now, than at any time during active withdrawal- because I don't want to fall into a trap of thinking that any problems I may have mean that all those doctors were right, I'm permanently disabled by a mental illness and there's no hope for me. I am pretty sure that the only thing I suffer from is PTSD, and I don't see that as a mental illness so much as a natural reaction to extremely stressful, traumatic life events. so Today I feel Victorious. I've overcome a lot and need to soak in that feeling of doing a good job I don't often give myself credit for my achievements or feel like it's ok to feel good about them but today, I give myself permission to bask in this feeling. it feels like the right and honest thing to do. I guess I just have to be different, I don't want to call this a success story because that sounds to me like the end, when in fact it is not. It's not really a beginning, either, because the beginning of my new life dates back to when I first realized that the drugs were the problem. to me, this just feels like a victory over adversity- something to celebrate! so please, celebrate with me, and know that you are going to heal as well, those of you still going thru WD/recovery. it's worth it, believe me so very worth it!

Summary prior to Lexapro: I was diagnosed with depression when I was 16 in 1999. It's hard to remember what I was going through then, but I know I would have major mood swings and get very emotional and sad. I started seeing a therapist. I was prescribed Zoloft, I think it was 10mg. I don't remember my full prescription history, but I believe I stayed on Zoloft until at least 2006. I moved from New Hampshire to San Francisco in 2005 and started seeing a therapist there. I didn't think I needed anti-depressants anymore and went off of Zoloft. I don't remember any kind of tapering, or guidance/warnings about going off Zoloft. I didn't have any issues quitting. I remember having depression symptoms during my period and my therapist recommended taking Prozac only during my period. I believe this was in 2006 or 2007. It helped, but I felt emotionally numb. Lexapro: I decided to try anti-depressants again but I wanted to try something different. My doctor recommended Lexapro. I believe this was in 2007 or 2008. Lexapro was an easy drug to take. I didn't have any side effects. Once, Kaiser tried to push me to generic escitalopram and I experienced issues with mood swings. I don't remember the exact symptoms but I know I contacted my doctor within a few days and demanded brand name Lexapro again. Other than that, I stayed on 20mg Lexapro with little thought to what/how it was treating my depression. There was one point where I visited my family in New Hampshire and didn't pack enough Lexapro. I skipped one day and figured I would do every other day to stretch the pills. I got dizzy and had brain zaps within a day. I looked this up online and learned that you can't just go off Lexapro. I kept that in mind and planned my refills better from that point on. Tapering off: In August 2020 Kaiser's pharmacy informed me that they would no longer carry Lexapro brand name starting in September, and they would only offer generic Escitalopram. I don't think this is a problem for most people but I had a bad reaction when I tried generic before and didn't want to go down that path again. I had also been questioning how long I should stay on anti-depressants. I was 38 and was a completely different person than when I was first prescribed at 16. I have a supportive partner who encourages me to seek alternative methods to managing my depression. I was particularly interested in supplements like fish oil because they have other health benefits. It felt hopeful to know that through mindfulness techniques and supplements I could manage my depression naturally and add additional health benefits. I emailed my doctor and asked for a tapering recommendation. Her assistant said to go from 20mg to 10mg for 2 weeks and then go off. That sounded entirely naive to me knowing what I experienced when I skipped one day by accident years earlier. I did research and most articles were vague. I subscribed to Harvard Health Review and they had a more thorough article with gradual tapering guidelines. I choose to go from 20 to 15, 10, 5 with 4 weeks in between. I started the taper in September and completed just after Christmas 2020. With about 4 weeks in between dosage changes I felt some brain zaps and dizziness, but nothing that impacted my day to day activities and work. Full stop: In January 2021 I felt pretty good about stopping the pills (I was on 5mg at that point). I read that you could experience more extreme symptoms after 5 days if you didn’t taper long enough. At day 5 all the withdrawal symptoms started and continued for roughly 4 months. I won’t get into full details because I think the symptoms are easier to find online now, but the brain zaps were frequent throughout the day. I was dizzy, and most days I worked on my couch because I couldn’t handle being vertical. My balance wasn’t so bad that I would fall, but I would kind of lean side to side going down hallways. Other physical symptoms were headaches, completely random indigestion that didn’t coincide with my very consistent diet, shaky hands, insomnia, and very random and quick flu/cold like symptoms like congestion. The brain zaps and dizziness made work very challenging. I manage a software development firm and am on client calls most of the day. What was far worse were waves of anxiety. I’ve never felt anxiety before, this was completely new to me. My mind was racing and I was constantly worried about my partner dying (he has perfect health) and other nonsense. I felt like I was on then verge of mania because I couldn’t handle even the smallest amount of stress. A stressful work event would have me clenching my teeth, holding back a scream, and pounding my fists. I’m the cool and calm one at work so this was so foreign to me and I was always scared I would lose my temper during a meeting. I had panic attacks, which I’ve never experienced before. They were prompted by seemingly nothing. I had a very hard time socializing. If someone asked how I was I thought I would burst into tears. I stopped drinking because I read that it could help. I told my closest friends so they would understand why I was withdrawing. I had a hard time talking about myself because I was really just trying to hang on. I didn’t have any other news. I couldn’t help out around the house because of the dizziness, and trying to cook would stress me out and make me agitated. My partner picked up the chores and I was usually lying on the couch. I don’t remember when the symptoms stopped because they kind of morphed instead of really going away, but I think the physical symptoms like brain zaps and dizziness started to lift in April and probably stopped in May 2021. I believe the initial withdrawal period was 4-5 months. I spoke with a Kaiser psychiatrist towards the end of this period and told him that my symptoms felt different. He cut me off and told me that you will not experience new symptoms when you go off SSRI’s. He told me that my depression could have evolved over the years and I didn’t know because I was on anti-depressants. I asked him when this will end and he said it is so rare that they don’t know, but it should really only be a few weeks (I was already into 4 months). Out of desperation I asked him to just tell me if it isn’t possible to go off Lexapro, do I just need to accept that and go back on. I told him that I’ve read countless forums where people describe this problem and I never see a follow up that they successfully finished the withdrawal. He downplayed forums and suggested that people probably needed to be on the SSRI’s and ultimately went back on because of their depression, but not because of the drug. I told him it was a crime that they don’t educate people about this before prescribing these medications. Post-acute withdrawal: As the physical withdrawal symptoms went away in May 2021 I was prepared to face my old depression symptoms, and I was armed with reading materials about mindfulness techniques and supplements like vitamins and fish oil. I definitely had some low days where I was sad and it was challenging to find motivation. But I also felt different because the anxiety was still around. It wasn’t as extreme as before (I didn’t have to worry about panic attacks), but I had lots of worrying and my mind was racing in addition to the feelings of sadness and inadequacy. I started taking fish oil supplements (1200mg EPA + 900mg DHA)in June/July 2021. My anxiety got worse and I wasn’t sleeping well. It was affecting work so I decided to just take it during my period when my symptoms are stronger. But it was still too much and I tried another brand with a lower dose. Same issues. I give up and try SAM-e, a supplement that should also help depression. I take 400mg a day and I just have light anxiety symptoms. I increased to 2 pills a day/800mg during my period and I got indigestion so I backed down to 400mg. Big mistake - I had insomnia for 2 days. Why am I so sensitive to these supplements when it seems like everyone else takes them easily? During a sleepless night I am doing online research and find Adele Framer’s research article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2045125320980573?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub 0pubmed I cry while reading it because it’s the first time I see in writing that people are experiencing new symptoms after discontinuing a SSRI. That’s exactly what is going on with me right now. At the time of writing this it has been 11 months since I stopped Lexapro and I don’t know if I am treating depression or anxiety. I’m staying on SAM-e 400mg a day because I’m petrified to make any changes without a professional guiding me. I’m taking a B complex/folate/magnesium vitamin luckily without issue. I have a couple good days and then a breakdown that is mixed with depression and anxiety. My mind races and I don’t sleep as deeply now. I’ve stopped drinking, except for a couple drinks a month, and I eat as many veggies as I can. I have irrational fears like my partner is going to die still and I’m guaranteed to have some kind of emotional breakdown before my period. I can’t handle the level of stress that I used to, and have a hard time multi tasking at work because I get agitated and experience brain fog. Suicidal thoughts make their way into my consciousness routinely, and on bad days I don’t think I can go on any further. On good days I worry about when the next bad day will be. I read this article by Adele and cried again because I’m 11 months in and she went 11 years: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2045125321991274. It feels hopeless, but my only motivation is to find a doctor that will guide me through this. I’m here on this forum to find a doctor that will treat the withdrawal symptoms for however long this is going to take. I can’t do this by myself.

Hi all, I was excited to see that this site was accepting new members starting back up January 1st, as I wanted to join a couple months ago and couldn't. I am currently tapering off 20mg of lexapro. I started tapering on 9/01/23 by dropping down to 15mg as suggested by my psychiatrist. I did that and had virtually no side effects. Two or three weeks later I tried dropping to 10mg per his recommendation and bam.... I had a terrible reaction. Worst anxiousness I've ever felt in my life. That's when I started doing my research and found that most doctors don't know what they are doing when it comes to tapering and I also found this wonderful website. I then went back to 15mg and the next day I went down to 12.5 mg. I was on 12.5 mg for three or so weeks and then dropped to 10mg on 10/24/23. I was on 10mg until 12/05/23 so a little over one month. Again, I have had virtually no side affects lowering my dose at any time... just occasion weird feelings in head and I am starting to feel my emotions come back. I then dropped down to 7.5mg on 12/05/23 and took it for about three weeks again with virtually no side effects. Then, the day after Christmas I started to feel pretty off. Very irritable and angry for no reason. I also felt very anxious and started to sweat a lot for about 15 minutes and then it went away. I also started to not sleep as well. My main symptoms were achy or painful joints off and on, lack of focus/brain fog at times, pressure in head, emotional fluctuations, occasional spikes in anxiety, stomach pain/cramps that would come and go, bloating/gas at times, and muscle fatigue. This all started on 12/26/23 and continued until 1/3/24. On 1/3/24 I started to feel pretty much normal again. No issues. I figured this little spell was just my body getting used to a lower dose. Then, around 1/8/24, I started feeling my body kind of slip back into this sucky state that I had previously felt a week or so ago. I am not sleeping as good, though I never feel tired during the day. These past three days have kind of been a blur, but I am managing to get through them. Today has been kind of crazy. Started noticing a sensitivity to loud noises that kind of comes and goes (this is a problem as I work in construction... constant loud noises). I also get these really weird shivering/shaking spells that I cannot control. I do not feel cold, I just start to shiver uncontrollably. I also felt like I was in a terrible mental state... something I have never felt before, but I was not anxious at all. I felt like I couldn't and did not want to eat... which is very much unlike me. I also noticed a gagging feeling coming on for no reason. I then ate some cheese and crackers and bam! Within 5 minutes it was like I was healed. Here I am 20 minutes later typing this out for you guys to hear. Throughout this whole process, I have noticed that exercise has helped tremendously! 30 minutes of speed walking and running on the treadmill everyday works miracles. I am also learning how much diet and nutrient/vitamin levels help regulate the body and mental health. So that's my story so far.... not sure why I never have had any symptoms of withdrawal the past four months until two or so weeks ago. Any help would be appreciated! I look forward to learning and helping others through their tapering journey!